It was an unplanned pregnancy, and her mind was made up. She was determined to have the abortion. She already had three children and her youngest was six years old. They were struggling financially, and she didn’t know how she could afford a baby.

The downcast face of the young woman still haunts me. As her boyfriend drove her to Planned Parenthood, her body, all slumped over, said it all. She didn’t have a choice. As they stopped their car near me, I gave her a small gift bag and told them about the free help at the Pregnancy Center. Emotionless, she let the bag fall from her fingers and drop to the floor of the car. She had already given up. Was she being forced into the abortion?

The new Pregnancy Center will have a eucharistic adoration chapel upstairs!”

We rejoiced at this news from Father Bill Carmody many years ago.

Some of us have fond memories praying before the Blessed Sacrament in the attic of the Old Colorado City Pregnancy Center. Sure, it was freezing cold in the winter and extremely hot in the summer. In fact, sometimes it was so hot, sweat would drip down the face of the adorer who was there. However, even in those extreme conditions, we were so incredibly blessed to be with Our Lord, asking him to save lives and to stop the abortions that were happening right across the street at Planned Parenthood on Colorado Avenue.

COLORADO SPRINGS. “What happened to the strong man?”

     “I’m sorry — but what strong man? What are you talking about?”

     “You know,” she said. “The statue of the muscular, demonic figure that used to be perched on the roof. I walk by here all the time, and I always see it. It’s not there today. What happened to it?”

     “There never was any statue.”

This conversation, as shared in the book “40 Days for Life” by David Bereit and Shawn Carney, really happened. No one else had seen that demon, but this woman had seen it on the roof of the abortion clinic time and time again as she walked past the clinic. After the abortion center was closed and the building was prayed over, the physical representation showing a spiritual reality was gone.

“Then the Lord God formed the man out of the dust of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” (Gen 2:7)

The phrase “breath of life” took on a whole new meaning when, at seven months pregnant, I found out our preborn son may or may not be able to breathe once he was born.

COLORADO SPRINGS. “You are the light of the world. A city seated on a mountain cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but upon a candlestick, that it may shine to all that are in the house. So let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 5:14-16

When state legislatures applaud the approval of full-term abortion, infanticide is introduced into state governments, and at the same time legislation is issued to protect, not human life, but caterpillars, it is obvious that darkness has overtaken many who are in our midst.

Why would you want to limit God?”

When I heard former Planned Parenthood Director, Sue Thayer say this at my first 40 Days for Life Leader Symposium in July, the words pierced my soul. Have I been limiting God? By choosing to do 12-hour 40 Days for Life prayer vigils instead of 24 hours, have I been limiting his power and love? Have I been asking too little of myself and others when God is calling all of us to do the impossible and to trust in him to work miracles?